ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips: '(NIL) Can't be a Recruiting Advantage'

Newly anointed James J. Phillips took the stage as the commissioner of the ACC during his first media days to talk about the future of the conference on Wednesday.

James "Jim" Phillips took over the Atlantic Coast Conference in December for John Swofford, who announced his June 2021 retirement in 2020, with Phillips named replacement last December.

Attending his first ACC media days as commissioner at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., Phillips addressed an exuberance of burning questions. Phillips and the ACC are heading out of a pandemic and into the Name, Image, and Likeness era that also sees just one reoccurring top-heavy power inside his conference, Clemson winning the ACC title every year since 2015.

"It is truly my belief that there is no better conference in the country," Phillips said in his media kickoff opening statement. "I'm so inspired by what our student-athlete program schools and conference were able to accomplish during such a difficult year.

"(Vaccination) decisions will remain at the discretion of each member institution... We had a chance to get with our athletic directors yesterday. We have over half of our group above the 85% (vaccinated) threshold, and we feel like that is a reasonable target... I can't tell you how proud I am of how our 15 schools navigated (NIL) uncharted territory... The success stories have (already) been many. We have to have some help on antitrust, (ACC) can't sustain constant litigation... It can't be a recruiting advantage."

The former Northwestern Athletic Director still has burning questions to resolve, such as Notre Dame's status as a member and how to compete with the two top conference earners. The SEC and Big Ten delivered between 45-54 million on average each year to member schools, while the ACC gave a median of 27 million.

"This is the right time to have a complete holistic review of NCAA leadership structure," Phillips said. "What do we want to do moving forward... we are super reliant on Indianapolis' perspective, governance, and what their structure looks like. Do you have the right governance structure (for NIL)... More changes are coming."

Phillips' address comes on the Coastal Division day of the ACC Kickoff. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, offensive lineman Matt Bockhorst, and sixth-year linebacker James Skalski will all be in attendance for the Atlantic Division outing on the second day of the event Thursday. Stay tuned for more ACC Media Kickoff Coverage from All Clemson.